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HCFD Receives Special Visit

On the afternoon of September 30th, 2015, 14 year old Seth Brenes walked into Haltom City fire station to to say thank you to the firefighters who made a difference in his life. In order to understand the significance of the visit, one must go back to May 30th, 2015 and review the events of that afternoon.

The afternoon of May 30th, 2015 marked the end of the Seth’s eighth-grade school year. In order to celebrate, Seth and several of his friends held an “End of the School Year Party” at a residence in Haltom City. During the course of the activities at the party, Seth’s life changed. An accident in the backyard left Seth with a severe spinal injury with the loss of function in his legs. 911 was called and Haltom City firefighters, along with Medstar, responded to the scene.

Upon their arrival, the firefighters began assessing and treating Seth for his injuries. Upon seeing the serious nature of the injuries, a second fire truck was called to the scene. Eventually, six firefighters were on the scene treating Seth. As the scene progressed, Seth began to lose feeling in his arms.

Medstar transported Seth to Cook Children’s Hospital, where doctors did not give him a very good prognosis based on his injury and symptoms. The doctors diagnosed him as a quadriplegic. As often happens in fire services, once the patient is handed off to the hospital not much information gets back to the people who initially treated the patient. Firefighters went to the hospital to visit Seth early in his stay at Cooks. The connection between Seth and the firefighters began to grow.

Fast-forward through the summer months and Seth began to show some improvement. The improvements culminated in a visit on September 30th, 2015 to HCFD Station 2, when Seth walked in to the station. He wanted to say thank you to the people who made a difference in his life. Five of the six firefighters who responded to the scene in May were at work that day. Everyone present at the reunion were amazed at Seth’s progress.

Meetings such as this is what keeps firefighters and emergency workers coming to work every day. This incident represents how the emergency medical system is supposed to work. A long chain of workers including the 911 call-taker, the HCFD firefighters, Medstar, and all of the nurses and doctors at Cook Children’s Hospital all worked together hoping for a good outcome. Needless to say, the progress made by Seth amazed the firefighters, but the attitude of thankfulness shown by Seth will probably be remembered above all things.

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